


The Pop Idol's Pining

by makot0naegi



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Aoi Asahina is clueless af, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Crack Treated Seriously, Donuts, F/F, Fluff and Crack, Junko Enoshima is a lil shit, Makoto Naegi is a team player, One Shot, Secret Admirer, Secret Crush, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 08:18:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12295137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makot0naegi/pseuds/makot0naegi
Summary: Hey everyone! So this is my first ever story to be published on A03 so this is pretty exciting for me! The basic premise of the piece is that it's actually an entry I placed in to the Danganronpa Amino's Crack Ship Challenge. It came out really nicely and I'm rather proud of it, so I decided to share it in a few other places as well.I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading!





	The Pop Idol's Pining

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! So this is my first ever story to be published on A03 so this is pretty exciting for me! The basic premise of the piece is that it's actually an entry I placed in to the Danganronpa Amino's Crack Ship Challenge. It came out really nicely and I'm rather proud of it, so I decided to share it in a few other places as well.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for reading!

The one part of Sayaka's day that she always looked forward to was just after class, when she could walk beneath the golden sun and think. It was the only time in her day that she felt she had to express her innermost thoughts and feelings to another person. There was no need to put on the idol mask. She felt that she could just be herself, which was a really special feeling, considering she found it only with certain people.

One of those people was Sayaka's best friend, Makoto Naegi. His general friendly attitude combined with good listening abilities made him the ideal companion on these walks after school. She could talk to him freely and he would listen and give advice when he could. He never judged and never insensitively poked fun, and Sayaka liked that. He had made things so simple that he had actually been the first person she'd confessed to about being bisexual. Of course, this meant that he had also been the first person Sayaka had confessed to about her huge crush on Aoi Asahina.

This crush of hers had been going on for awhile now, and she honestly wasn't sure what had started it. From her perspective, it was almost like she opened her eyes one day and started seeing Aoi from a different light. Makoto teased that this was her "bisexual awakening", to which she agreed wholeheartedly. Before Aoi, she had been trying incredibly hard to ignore the fact that she was attracted to girls. But the minute she caught a real glimpse of the Super High School Level Swimmer's beauty, it became apparent that her inner bisexuality could not be fought against.

So she embraced it, and it became a usual piece of conversation when she and Makoto would take their after school walks.

"Man, the class was completely out of control today," Makoto remarked as the two of them walked along, school bags slung lazily over their shoulders. "Our poor substitute teacher."

Sayaka couldn't help but laugh awkwardly. "Yeah... They really were something, huh? It seemed almost everyone was just bursting with uncontrollable energy."

"That's kind of saying a lot, too, since they're a pretty rowdy group." Makoto sighed, pushing a hand through his light brown hair. "I mean, at least some of them were kind of tame. Like Fujisaki, Kirigiri, Ikusaba, and Asahina..."

"That's true, but Kirigiri and Ikusaba are always pretty tame," Sayaka reminded him with a teasing smile. "However, Asahina was a bit of a surprise, honestly. She must be saving all that energy up for her swim meet next week."

A knowing smile made its way across Makoto's face. "Ah, right. She's got that big meet next week. So... do you still think you're gonna go ahead with your plan?"

She had been hoping that he had forgotten about that, but it seemed he hadn't. Wonderful. She found herself biting her lip, her cheeks heating up from the thought of what she had planned on doing. The idea was simple and casual- Aoi had invited Sayaka and a few of their other classmates to watch her at the swim meet, and most of them had accepted. Sayaka had intended to make a huge, glittery poster board for Aoi to cheer her on. Then, after she had inevitably beaten the other swimmers, Sayaka would congratulate her and ask her out on a date. A cute date, at the café downtown that served the best donuts anyone in Japan had ever tasted. They could talk and laugh and share pastries and warm drinks, wondering how they hadn't done this sooner.

That had been the idea, anyway. But somewhere along the line, Sayaka chickened out. It was nerve-wracking, the idea of confessing her feelings outright to her crush. If she tried to picture the situation in her mind, it always took a wrong turn somewhere. If she could never get it right in her head, how could she hope to get it right in person?

She had to avoid biting her lip harder when she heard Makoto give a light sigh. She knew he didn't mean anything by it, but it still made her feel like she was being frustrating. "If you find telling her in person to be too hard, why don't you try something cute that you don't have to do in person," He suggested, "Like a secret admirer thing."

It was Sayaka's turn to sigh. "I don't think I can do that. All things considered, she'd be likely to believe it was a prank the moment she found out that I was the one sending the notes... I kind of wish I could just combine the secret admirer idea and doing it personally, honestly."

A deep silence seemed to overcome the two as they walked, the gears turning within their minds to try and create a solution for the problem. No matter how Sayaka looked at it, it felt like there would never be a perfect way to share her feelings. It was as if she was destined to internalize her feelings out of fear of what might not be. It was spirit-crushing, feeling as if the one she loved could never love her back. The silence between her and Makoto only proved this idea to her until...

"Wait a minute! Maizono, I've got it!" Makoto shouted a little too excitedly, causing a few heads to turn in their direction. "Why don't you just do exactly as you said? Combine the ideas!"

"I'm... going to need a little more than that."

Makoto laughed slightly. "But I thought you were an esper."

She couldn't help but snicker and grab on to his arm. "C'mooooon, stop teasing and tell me already!"

"Alright. Basically, I was thinking you could start off by giving her three small gifts day by day. Then, with the third gift, leave a note asking her for a date with the location and time provided. That way you'll pretty much already have admitted how you feel about her, and after that all you'll have to do is show up."

"What if she thinks I played a trick on her or something?" Sayaka questioned nervously, biting her lip again.

"She knows you would never ask somebody out as a joke," He reminded her, "You'd never want to hurt anyone like that. It's just not you."

Sayaka had begun to find that an involuntary smile was creeping its way across her face. She couldn't deny that it was a pretty good idea, and one that might actually work too. "I guess it's settled, then." She giggled giddily, "I'm finally going to tell Asahina how I feel."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Day one, the gift of Aoi's favourite food in the whole world: donuts. A big box of them, filled with a dozen of different flavours and toppings. It was sure to make the swimmer's heart melt and her stomach rumble when she found them on her desk. Sayaka felt as if she could barely stand to wait for the moment when she'd find them. She actually had to force her eyes away when she noticed Aoi rushing in to the classroom, Sakura following closely behind.

Even though she didn't dare look, she kept herself tuned in through the sound of Aoi's voice and footsteps as she made her way to her desk.

"Hey, what's this?" Aoi asked nobody in particular, looking down at the pretty pink box. Cautiously, she lifted the lid to the box and peered inside, searching for a sign of ownership. Instead she was surprised to find a cheesy pick-up line scrawled in Sayaka's handwriting, signed by a secret admirer. "You donut know how much I love you... Your secret admirer?"

Sayaka could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she listened for what would come next. Would she like it? Was she impressed by it?

"Hey Sakura, look!" Aoi called out excitedly, gesturing for her friend to come over to her desk. "I have a secret admirer! Look, they even bought me donuts! How sweet are they?"

Her excited squealing only made Sayaka's heart beat faster as her face flushed. She had to put a book in front of her face just to hide her blush.

Aoi had actually liked her gift. She had thought that it- no, that SHE was sweet. The thought made Sayaka's heart soar. She was giddy for the rest of the day.

Day two was just as good, if not better. This time around, she had taken a more classic approach and gotten up early to visit the local flower shop before school. She and Makoto had researched flower language so they could create the perfect bouquet to give to Aoi. It consisted of white carnations, red tulips, gardenias, forget-me-nots, and camellias of a few different colours. The moment Aoi had noticed the bouquet on her desk, her blue eyes had lit up with indescribable joy. She had carefully walked over to the bouquet and picked it up, inhaling the sweet scent of the flowers. As soon as she caught even a slight whiff, a smile curved on Aoi's lips. 

She's the cutest thing in the whole world, I swear.

"Amazing..." Aoi murmured to herself before excitedly turning around to show Sakura just as she had done the day before. "Look, they sent me flowers this time! Aren't they beautiful? Smell them!" Without thinking the swimmer thrusted the bouquet in to her friend's face so that she could follow her demand. Luckily Sakura was patient, and grinned over the fact that Aoi was so happy.

"Your admirer must be a gentleman, Asahina. These flowers are exquisite." The white-haired girl laughed softly, nodding her head. "I can't help but wonder if they mean anything."

"Mean anything?" Aoi questioned, putting one hand on her hip and tilting her head. The action reminded Sayaka vaguely of a puppy who had just heard a word it liked.

"Flower language, duh," Junko commented from the sidelines as she filed her nails. "The bouquet arrangement usually means something, y'know? Oh, and Sakura, I wouldn't be so sure that Aoi's admirer is a boy."

What?!

Had someone told Junko about her feelings for Aoi? The only person she could think of who knew and regularly interacted with Junko was Makoto, but when she glanced over at him, he immediately threw his hands up in the air pleading innocence.

"How did you know? Did you see them?" Aoi questioned, her watery blue eyes wide with interest. "Can you tell me who they are?"

Junko shot a knowing look towards Sayaka, who immediately froze in shock. Was Junko really going to expose her like this? This could ruin everything. What would Aoi do if she found out that her admirer was Sayaka? What if she wasn't happy?

"Sorry, hon, I didn't see anyone. I just... had a feeling, you know?" Junko commented, looking back down at her bright red nails. "You never know who's secretly harbouring feelings for you. Cute girls like tough girls like you just as much as boys do!"

It took every ounce of Sayaka's willpower to not draw in a sigh of relief. She was safe... For now.

Day three rolled around before Sayaka felt ready for it, but she knew that no matter how uneasy she felt, it had to be done. If she didn't confess some time soon, she risked never getting the chance to do so. Her only choice was to tuck her nervousness away and bestow another gift upon her donut-loving mermaid. The third gift was nothing other than a CD with the recording of a love song that Sayaka had written for Aoi.

For the sake of protecting her own identity as the secret admirer, however; she had asked one of her idol group members, Satomi, to sing the song so she could put it on the disk. Then, alongside it, Sayaka placed a single note detailing everything about the date she had planned for that night.

Dear Aoi,

Are you a slippery pool deck? 'Cause I'm falling for you.

Jokes aside, I wish to speak with you in person and share my identity. Can you please meet me at the Sakura café tonight at 7:30?

Sincerely,

Your Secret Admirer

Just waiting for Aoi to read the note was agonizing, and when she finally had, Sayaka could do little else aside from worry that she might not come. That, and thank Makoto for asking for pick-up lines for swimmers from Leon. Going to Leon for girl advice was making a true sacrifice. She'd have to thank him for it later.

"Got another love note, Asahina?" A familiar voice snickered, sending shivers down Sayaka's spine. It was Junko... Again. She'd been skulking around the classroom with Mukuro at her side when Sayaka had arrived at school. Might she have seen what Sayaka had done? Just as it had yesterday, she felt her blood run cold.

"Yeah, this one's asking for a date." The swirly-haired girl replied in a thoughtful tone. "Any reason as to why you're asking, Enoshima?"

"Nah, not really. I just had a feeling about this admirer of yours, y'know?" She said a little too loudly, glancing quickly at Sayaka before her eyes darted away again. She knew! Was she planning to expose her in front of everyone? Would she really stoop so low? Sure, Junko could be a little mean sometimes, but this seemed a little too low for her. "-and so this morning, I decided to get here early to see if I could catch a glimpse of your admirer. Lo and behold, I did! They were a real cutie, and not to mention that they're actually a member of this class."

"Of this class...?" Aoi murmured, leaning forward with interest. Sayaka felt her heart pick up its pace, letting her know that there was nothing she could do to protect herself from this. Junko was going to ruin everything, and then Aoi would know. How could she deal with that if she hadn't even been able to admit her feelings up front?

The wide grin on Junko's face made Sayaka want to throw up. How could she take so much joy in messing with her friend like this? Aside from Mukuro, Sayaka had thought that she was the closest to Junko out of their whole class. Why would she do that? "In fact, your secret admirer is none other than-"

"WAAUGH!"

The loud yelp accompanied by a groan of pain and the sound of someone's head hitting the side of Junko's desk was enough to make everybody's heads turn. Thank god for that interruption, Sayaka thought, as her eyes fell upon her unfortunate best friend. Per the norm, his stroke of bad luck had come and gone. Only he seemed to slip on the pieces of paper that others neglected and left on the floor, and this time he was going to pay for it with a bright purple bruise on his forehead.

"Oh my gosh! Naegi, are you okay?!" Aoi questioned, rushing over to help him. Junko quickly followed her, although she seemed to hesitate a little before bending down to help him.

"Ow..." The Lucky Student complained, rubbing his head. "That's gonna leave a mark... But yeah, I guess I'm okay... I should probably get some ice though."

"That's probably a good idea," Aoi agreed.

"Enoshima, do you think you could take me to go get some?" Makoto asked, an expression of pain on his face as he looked up at the blue-eyed model.

"Oh, sure." Junko answered flatly, offering a hand so she could pull him up. "Won't be too big of a deal. Asahina, can you tell Ms. Amachi where we're going when she gets here?"

"Yep, definitely!"

With that, Junko pulled Makoto to his feet and the two began to walk out of the room together. Still, Sayaka could swear that out of the corner of her eye, she saw Makoto flash her a small grin. If he had tripped and purposefully had his head collide with the desk, then one thing was for sure: Makoto Naegi was a team player.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After an inspiring pep talk from her best friend (who was now sporting a bright purple bruise on his head, just as predicted), Sayaka was off to the meeting spot. Shortly after Makoto and Junko had left the room in search of ice, Sayaka had heard Aoi and Sakura chatting about the date offer.

"Do you think I should do it, Sakura? I mean, I know the choice is pretty much mine but..." She sighed, "Do you think Enoshima is telling the truth? Do you really think my admirer is one of our classmates?"

"I cannot say for certain, however; would your admirer being a classmate of ours somehow dissuade you from attending the meeting?" Sakura inquired softly, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

"No, it wouldn't. I just... I'm nervous, I guess. I never thought that any of our classmates could see me as anything more than..." She didn't even appear capable of finishing her sentence as a blush spread its way across her cheeks and nose. "I do want to go, but what if something goes wrong?"

"If anything goes wrong, Asahina, you need only call me. I will help you as best I can. Should you truly desire to go to this rendezvous, do not let fear of the unknown stand in your way."

Those words had set Aoi on a course of the date that Sayaka had been planning for what felt like months, but was in actuality merely a few days. A week, maybe. She had taken lots of time and care to make sure everything was perfect, right down to her outfit. She had tied her blue hair in to a high ponytail to keep it out of her face, and had done a little more than usual for her make-up routine. As usual, she did her eyeliner and mascara, but this time she also added a light brown eyeshadow and bright red lipstick. In addition to this face of make-up and flowing hair, Sayaka had taken the liberty of putting on a white sundress with a red rose pattern, which she matched with white boots she would typically use for a stage performance. She'd have to clean them later or her manager would throw a hissy fit.

As she strutted through downtown Tokyo and ignored the prying stares of creepy men, she couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. Even with all of the time she'd had to figure this out, she still wasn't sure what she was actually going to say. How was one supposed to say, 'Hey, surprise, I'm your classmate and I've been secretly sending you gifts and love notes because I have a huge crush on you!' without sounding weird? Or at the very least, without sounding completely awkward? This was too big of a problem for her to work out, especially considering that she could already see Aoi waiting out front of the café. Just one glimpse of her, and Sayaka cursed under her breath.

And I thought I looked good when I left the house.

Before her stood Aoi Asahina, a girl who was not known for her femininity. Yet she had let down her brown hair from its usual bun, allowing it to flow down her back neatly. Not to mention that she was not wearing shorts, which was almost an unbelievable thing to witness- Aoi Asahina not wearing shorts was like Kiyotaka not yelling at someone for running in the hallways- it almost never happened! Just seeing Aoi stand there in that cute white mini skirt made her heart beat faster. Her favourite piece of ensemble; however, was the sweater she had on. It looked cozy, but still cute. Not to mention that it was yellow- a colour that Sayaka loved on Aoi, she couldn't deny how lovely it looked in proximity to her sun-kissed skin. On her feet, Aoi wore a pair of yellow sneakers, to really complete the outfit. All in all, Sayaka was concerned that just the one look at her could have been enough to make her heart stop. She was positively breathtaking.

With every step Sayaka came just a second closer to the time where she would reveal herself. Her palms were sweating and her stomach was doing flip flops and she was beginning to wonder if this was a good idea after all. It was too late to back out now, wasn't it? She was here. She'd worked hard at providing Aoi with three gifts to get here. Her friend had both subjected himself to Leon's dating advice and a forehead to the desk to get her here. She couldn't allow herself to disappoint, not now. Though she was terrified, she stepped forward so that Aoi could finally see her.

At that moment, Aoi's drifted up from her cell phone and she found herself face to face with Sayaka. The moment the two locked eyes, the swimmer's mouth fell agape. Her cheeks began to flush, as did Sayaka's. The two seemed to stare at each other for what felt like ages before finally, Aoi spoke.

"Is... is it really you, Maizono?"

Taking a deep breath, the idol prepared to give her answer.

"Yes." She mumbled, finding that her eyes had drifted down to the sidewalk. Was she really so embarrassed that she couldn't even look her in the eye as she confessed? "I've... had a huge crush on you ever since last spring. After that school trip where you and I spent all that time together I just... I started feeling differently about you. At first I thought it might have been because something was like... wrong with me or something, but as time went on it occurred to me that... I liked you. Like, a lot."

It didn't even seem that Aoi could form words. She simply kept staring at Sayaka, dumbstruck by what she had to say.

"I mean, you're so kind, and funny, and brave. Not to mention that you're unbelievably pretty, and cute, and you have such a nice laugh and you're so much fun to be around and-" She gushed, "I just... Asahina, I really like you."

"S-Sayaka..."

Almost there.

"I honestly have no idea if you feel the same way or if you even like girls, but I had to tell you. I couldn't keep it to myself anymore! I really, really like you Asahina... But I understand if you don't feel the same way."

Sayaka gave a moment of silence in which she prepared for rejection, but as Aoi took Sayaka's hands in hers, she began to wonder if that was actually going to be the case. With their eyes locked together, a smile curved on Aoi's lips. Without awaiting a response from Sayaka, she leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on the idol's cheek.

"That is the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me. It might even be the sweetest thing I've ever heard." She admitted, her cheeks turning bright pink. "To be completely honest with you... I'm actually pansexual myself."

"So... does that mean... you're still up for the date?" Sayaka asked shyly, her eyes widening with disbelief.

Aoi couldn't help but smile wider. "Yes."

Keeping one of her hands in Aoi's, Sayaka entered the café for a date that would later prove to be the best one she'd ever been on. Needless to say, Aoi had her new girlfriend cheering her on at the swim meet the next week.


End file.
